West of Suez

'West of Suez' is about a homosexual Austrian officer in the period before World War I, and shows Osborne's interests in the decline of empire and the perils of the nonconformist. It revealed a measure of sympathy for a type of British colonizer whose day has waned and antipathy for his ideological opponents, who are made to appear confused and neurotic. It was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in August 1971.